Patterns: Learning from the past

Awhile ago I was having lunch with a friend who said that everything enormous in her life happened around August. She insisted that things like this were cyclical, and if we would all just look, we would see the patterns.

I’m not quite sure what it is about the end of October, but it always seems like a good time for me to take on seemingly impossible things. Or, as the door said in Alice in Wonderland:

Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of me quitting smoking. Way to go, me!! Considering the stuff is about as difficult to kick as heroin, I’m patting myself on the back. Seriously, thank you nicotine patches! I couldn’t have done it without you. (Sidenote: I’ve saved $3,650 so far.)

And then about a year ago, I decided sorta out of the blue to write a novel. In one month. Joining about 200,000 other people, I participated in NaNoWriMo, and wrote my first novel, which ended up being about 73,000 words. And I took a quick surprise trip to Italy in there and still managed to finish it.

The Alps are great for writer's block

I actually just posted an excerpt of the novel, which I’ll be editing this November. Of course, some people may argue that editing a novel will be less of an undertaking than writing one, but given my affliction of perfectionism, I’m gonna say it will still be a bit of a challenge.

For a minute I kind of thought this year was going to be light on the challenges, but then I realized I had my company website deadline scheduled for the end of October.

Oh yeah! And that means I’ll be selling my writing and social media skills to the public. On my own. It’s one of the scariest (and most exciting) things I have ever done.

But not impossible. Nothing’s impossible. “I’ve got a good feeling about this,” she says in a sing-song voice.

I think my friend is right. I’ve noticed it with other parts of my life too. I usually make huge life changes around July. (Quit my job in 2011. Took a sabbatical from my blog in 2010. Moved to California in 2009.) What about you? When do your most challenging moments tend to happen?

I think it we start to notice these patterns, we can make the most of them, plan for them and make our lives a little bit easier.